Yunqing Han, also known as Isabella, is an inspiring and determined high school junior from Beijing, China. Yunqing currently studies at a boarding school in Virginia, plays the piano in their free time and is a volunteer for Learning Ally! Yunqing has been reading with Learning Ally for almost 2 years now. 

Yunqing’s journey with Learning Ally began after realizing they had a passion for education. Before becoming a volunteer, Yunqing’s school offered a co-curriculum opportunity where Yunqing would spend 5 weeks in a professional setting. During this time, Yunqing was partnered with a special education school where they became a teaching assistant for students with severe physical and learning disabilities. After completing their time with the school, Yunqing became inspired to find more opportunities to help students. With a long browse on the internet and lots of determination, Yunqing found Learning Ally.

When asked how they balance schoolwork with volunteering and what incentivizes them to do so, Yunqing said they found time to volunteer on the weekends when the school library was less crowded and more quiet. Yunqing said they also found added benefits to volunteering, other than being able to help students with learning differences. 

Reading the textbooks and literature books has allowed Yunqing to improve their English fluency, as it is not their native tongue. When COVID-19 came about, Yunqing’s classes moved online and they had less opportunity to practice English with their classmates and teachers. Reading for Learning Ally gave Yunqing the opportunity to continue practicing their English conversation skills and improve pronunciations. 

In addition to growing their speaking skills, Yunqing also did some studying while volunteering. Yunging recalls: “I actually studied part of my AP European history exam with Learning Ally’s textbooks. I happened to be recording a chapter on the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires and by reading the material, I essentially reviewed what I needed to know about Islamic influences on Europe for the exam.” 

When we asked Yunqing if the pandemic challenged them as a student and in volunteering, they said they were able to find a silver lining. Due to the quarantine, Yunqing moved home to Beijing. Now living at home, Yunqing records with an audience in their parents’ living room, rather than their quiet, private nook in the school library. From reading in front of their parents, Yunqing has discovered that they read with more focus, clarity, and has a much better delivery when someone is sitting right beside them listening. Yunqing suggests that all readers and narrators pretend as if there is a person listening to them read. Not only does it improve your sound, but Yunqing says “Everytime when I feel like I do not want to continue reading after the first hour or so, I imagine someone sitting right in front of me saying ‘I want to listen to one more chapter’ and then I keep reading.” Yunqing added: “ I really enjoy reading for Learning Ally, sometimes I think it helps me more than I help it.”

Check out Yunqing Han's narration of "Yen-Shen: A Cinderella Story From China". 

Yunqing, you are an inspiring, young professional. From all of us in the Volunteer Nation, we want to say thank you for all you do! 

Today at Learning Ally we are celebrating Jerry Byrd on reading his 300th book!

Jerry started volunteering with Learning Ally 18 years ago back in 2002, but has been reading audiobooks for the blind since the mid 1960s. Jerry got his start in recording audiobooks when he joined the St. Louis public library’s recording studio. For his first project, Jerry was given a book, a stack of cassettes, and off he went! He continued his narration when working as a professor at California State University in Long Beach, the Monterey Society for the Blind, and later Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, now known as Learning Ally. 

One of Jerry’s favorite memories from working in the Learning Ally studio was meeting the students who stopped in to share their stories. He recalls one student saying: “I was nine in the third grade. I couldn’t read. The teacher thought I had problems; the kids thought I was dumb; I thought I was dumb. Now I am a doctoral student in anthropology.” Jerry said that inspiring stories like these were accomplishments he wanted to share in. 

When Learning Ally made its shift to recording online, Jerry went with them. When asked what motivates him to continue to volunteer with Learning Ally, Jerry recalled a lesson he learned from his mother. “My mother always inculcated in me the idea that you don’t do everything for yourself. People do things for you; your dentist, your car mechanic. So you do something for somebody else. I feel privileged that I have the education and the voice to be able to do this for somebody else.” Since narrating audiobooks, Jerry says he has become more aware of the blind and dyslexic community and the people who depend on audiobooks for their education, livelihood and quality of life. 

Jerry offered a piece of advice and encouragement for Learning Ally volunteers. He said: “Stop and think about this whole idea that we exchange gifts in life. I can’t fix my car, I can’t fix my teeth, but I can read for people who cannot read and they will do something for me in the long run. They will be that doctor of anthropology or historian for me. We are all in this together. We are dependent on each other. We don’t go this alone. It’s a gift that we shouldn’t turn away. We should use the gifts we have.” 

Thank you Jerry for 300 books, 6,000+ hours, and 100,000+ pages. You are inspiring!